Cindy Johnson - Whos Picking Me Up from the Airport?: And Other Questions Single Girls Ask

ZONDERVAN

Whos Picking Me Up from the Airport?
Copyright 2015 by Cindy Johnson

ePub Edition January 2015: ISBN 978-0-310-34097-3

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Johnson, Cindy, 1981

Whos picking me up from the airport? : and other questions single girls ask / Cindy Johnson.

pages cm

ISBN 978-0-310-34096-6 (softcover)

1. Christian women Religious life. 2. Single people Religious life. 3. Dating (Social customs) Religious aspects Christianity. I. Title.

BV4527.J634 2015

248.8432 dc23

2014040215

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois. All rights reserved.

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published in association with literary agent Heidi Mitchell of D.C. Jacobson & Associates LLC, an Author Management Company www.dcjacobson.com

Cover design: Dual Identity
Interior design: David Conn

First printing December 2014

For my mother, Alice,
the most beautiful person I know. Please accept this token of gratitude for your unconditional love, patience, and licks from the cookie-dough beaters. Thank you for always believing in me. I love you!

Contents

A Note to Married People:
What Not to Say to Your Single Friends

All my love and gratitude to my dad, Mike, and my brothers, Tim, Mark, and Matt. I cringe thinking of the kind of guy Id be tied to now if you four hadnt exemplified such great men. Thank you for your love, help, and friendship. You are my lifes greatest joy!

A wholehearted Cheers! to my inspirational and lovely single friends/contributors/editors! Im honored to share this phase of life with you, on and off paper. Thank you for bravely telling your stories. Listed in alphabetical order, so as to avoid hurt feelings (Is this what picking out bridesmaids feels like?): Amy, Brittany, Christina, Jody, Katie, Keturah, Laura, Linnsey, Melinda, Melody, Morgan, Stine, and Sullivan.

A special thanks to Alicia Streelman, Alyssa Firovanti, Bill and Katy White, Bree Minefee, Christine Bury, Davey, Greg and Sara Dolmage, Heather Carter, Jason and Emilie Brown, Jenni Johnson, Jon, Kayla Adams, Lori Johnson, and Rob. Without your encouraging words and input, none of this would have happened. Thank you for supporting my journey.

To my wonderful agent, Heidi Mitchell, and everyone at D. C. Jacobson and Associates: thank you for believing in the message and in me. You have changed my life! To my incredible editor, Carolyn McCready, and the talented people at HarperCollins and Zondervan, thank you for the opportunity of a lifetime.

And last and least, to all my ex-boyfriends, who truly made this book possible.

XOXO,

Cindy

If you met your husband at Christian college, this book is not for you. If you married someone you met on a missions trip, at summer camp, or in youth group, this book isnt for you. If you got married before the age of twenty-seven, have the +1 wedding date situation on lockdown, or wake up every day and think, Yep, this is how I envisioned my life at this age, then this book is not for you. Of course, you are more than welcome to read it, and by all means buy it. But Im telling you, you might not identify with it. Just like I dont understand the agony of losing sleep with a newborn, incorporating a man into my closet space, or handling a crazy mother-in-law, you might not resonate with my story either.

There are lots of Christian books written for wives and mothers. Trying to find something helpful for a single adult female? Forget it. And no, I Kissed Dating Goodbye and Redeeming Love do not count. Those books are great if youre debating how soon is too soon for the side hug, but they dont tell you how low is too low when trying on shirts to go out in on a Friday night. Nor do they warn you that the churchs golden-boy worship leader might turn out to be a complete tool. Books like those certainly serve a purpose, but they dont meet me in my phase of life.

I know its hard to believe, but when I began writing this book, it wasnt so I could broadcast to the world that Cindy Johnson is still single. I never wanted to be a spokeswoman for single women. Im offended when my mom ever so slyly mentions that the speaker at our womens retreat isnt married or offers to pay for eHarmony as a Christmas gift. Im totally worried this book will stick the final nail in my she died alone coffin. And yes, Im afraid people will say things like, Isnt that Cindy, the girl who cant find a husband, so she wrote a book?

Thankfully, all that pressure is misguided. According to a US Census from 2010, men and women are waiting longer and longer to get married. The current median age for women is twenty-seven, and its twenty-nine for men. You are simply not the last single girl under the age of twenty-three on the planet. I continually meet women who are wondering why the heck they are still single and whether there are any decent men left. And more than pity, Christian cliches, or empty advice, what we all need is laughter and honest conversation about singleness. So Im taking one for the team and attempting to provide some candid thoughts on the subject. If I do end up a spinster, you all owe me. Big time.

I chose to write this book as a gift for my single friends. They are beautiful, intelligent women who sometimes wake up afraid, frustrated, and disappointed. Turns out the best comfort, perhaps the only comfort, any of us can bring each other is friendship. My hope is that youll find in this book someone who gets you. Someone else whose life has turned out far different than she thought it would.

I wish you and I could meet up and swap stories in person over coffee or a glass of wine. These pages will have to do in the meantime.

Most of all, I hope I leave you feeling there is nothing wrong with you.

Before we begin, I would like to make a few disclaimers, to help you get to know me better.

Number one, I am not ugly. Seriously. I get my eyebrows done and know to avoid kitten heels and light wash jeans. Also, Im not a weirdo. I point this out because if I picked up this book, Id definitely assume the author is a mess. Id have already done a Google images search to confirm my suspicions. For all intents and purposes, Im normal. (I should also mention that Im not drop-dead gorgeous, crazy, or afraid of commitment either. Well, okay, Im a little afraid of commitment, but well touch on that later.)